


A Story Where Love And Courage Win

by A Hopeful One (AHopefulOne)



Category: Fate/Zero, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Berserker Sayaka, Gen, Kariya Matou with common sense, Kariya summons Sayaka, Literal Madoka ex Machina, pre-rebellion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27558922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AHopefulOne/pseuds/A%20Hopeful%20One
Summary: Matou Kariya summons Miki Sayaka for the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War, in the hopes of changing the fate of a single girl. Featuring: divine intervention, Sayaka having a crush on King bloody Arthur, and Kariya getting some sense slapped into him. Pre-Rebellion.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	A Story Where Love And Courage Win

**Author's Note:**

> Matou Kariya is from Fate/Zero, a story written by Gen Urobuchi and later adapted by ufotable and Nitro+. Miki Sayaka is from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a story animated by Studio Shaft…and written by Gen Urobuchi. Great.
> 
> I guarantee that this story will have a happy ending.

**0.**

When no catalyst is provided for summoning a Servant, the Grail chooses.

It chooses the most compatible Servant for the Master. It chooses a Servant whose life most closely parallels that of the Master. In many worlds of the kaleidoscope, in many versions of the Fifth Heaven’s Feel, the Grail chose Medusa as Matou Sakura’s Rider.

In a slightly different time, yet in a very similar place, it chose similarly for Matou Kariya.

* * *

**I.**

Matou Kariya lay collapsed in the dirt, the laughter of an old man ringing in his ears.

How was he to win now? For so long he had left the Moonlit World, and now he was going to enter a war between Mages, all of which had likely trained their entire lives for this occasion alone. He himself was bereft of any proper training, and worse still, the Berserker that he had summoned looked nothing more than a little girl.

It was impossible, but he had to make the impossible possible, because if he didn’t, Sakura would–

He shook his head. It didn’t matter. He just had to do it. _Had to._

Finally looking up at his Servant, he saw that her eyes, a deep blue to match her light hair, were looking at him curiously.

“I am…Berserker?” She spoke hesitantly at first, then began to sound more sure. “Ah well. Are you my Master? Also,” she looked around at the cellar, where the bugs were still crawling around, “can we get out of this place?”

Kariya stared at his Servant for a few seconds longer before responding. “Yeah, I am. And yeah, let’s get out of here.”

The first of the two sentences rang hollow in the darkness of the basement.

_Yeah, as if I’m a real Master, what with all of the magic that I know._

_~~[z]~~_

Miki Sayaka followed behind her Master as he led the way out of the cellar. After hearing that old man, she had really, really wanted to cut him down on the spot, and damn the consequences.

_He’s probably not even human in the first place! Is he just a mass of worms?_

In any case, when Madoka told her that there had been a “special request” for her, in a world where magic was real but Witches weren’t, she certainly hadn’t been expecting this.

As she walked, information continued to be downloaded into her brain. Seven Masters, seven Servants, and a single wish. Of course, she distrusted it immediately. How long ago had she learnt that a wish for someone’s happiness always bears the cost in an equal amount of despair?

Thankfully, she’d be returning to the Cycle after this. The same, however, could not be said for her Master.

Those eyes that she had saw, the first thing upon being summoned…oh, she had seen that look before. She had _been_ that look before, right after realizing what an _absolute fool_ she had been, once upon a time.

She also felt a bit of that now.

_Yeah, how am I supposed to go up against heroes that are literally from legend and myth?_

“Damn it, Madoka. What did I get myself into?” she muttered under her breath.

~~[z]~~

“Did you say something?” Kariya called out.

“No, nothing!” came the hasty reply.

_As if it wasn’t enough to have summoned a Berserker who doesn’t even go berserk._

The night air was cool, and Kariya could hear cicadas chirping in the distance – the sound of real insects, not the buzzing of the monstrosities that comprised the Matou Magecraft. What few potted plants left were yellow from lack of care.

Groaning in pain, he sat himself down on an old bench, of which the paint was peeling and the metal was rusting. Even with the cane, he had barely managed to make it up the flight of stairs.

Still, it seemed to him that the pain was…less severe than usual?

_Still doesn’t make it anything close to tolerable, though._

Meanwhile, Berserker seemed to be more energetic. As Kariya watched, she stepped into the moonlight and gave a little twirl, and her cape flutters around her like a large white wing.

_Well, time to start preparing for the War._

Before he could even ask a question, though, his Servant spoke.

“Hey, Master. What’s your wish for this War?”

 _I’m pretty sure_ I’m _the one that supposed to be asking the questions._

Then again, he wasn’t a proper magus– _not like Tokiomi–_ and at the thought, he gritted his teeth.

_I suppose it doesn’t really matter if I tell her the truth._

“I don’t really have a wish.” Somehow, he didn’t feel uncomfortable saying it out loud. “I just need to win the war to save Sakura.”

“Sakura?”

Kariya decided to give, well, not the whole story with Aoi and the Tohsaka, but the general gist of events. With every word that he spoke, however, he could see his Servant’s face turning noticeably more incensed, and by the end, after he had outlined the Matou’s special brand of Magecraft and Sakura’s “training”, Berserker’s hand had risen to rest at the hilt of her sword.

“Master, please order me to kill Matou Zouken.” In her eyes now burnt an anger that somehow reminded Kariya of raging waves and a stormy sea.

“Hah, you’ll think that’ll work?” Kariya gave a bitter laugh. “The Matou was the one responsible for the creation of the Master-Servant system – he can probably banish you back to the Throne of Heroes if he wanted to. Besides, he’s also nearly immortal. He calls himself my ‘father’, but he appears in the family records several generations back. I don’t even think that’s his real body – you’ll probably have to finish off every last one of those bloody worms.”

~~[z]~~

 _So that the_ true _enemy we need to defeat, huh?_

With a sickening thought, Sayaka realised that the old man may have actually be listening to this conversation right now, right through the worms that she could sense in her Master’s body. Gritting her teeth, she strode over to him, motioned for him to lie back, then placed a gloved hand on his chest.

In a large majority of the infinitely many possible timelines, Miki Sayaka never had the chance to undergo proper training as a Magical Girl before succumbing to grief. Yet, there were still a few, where Tomoe Mami had never died to Charlotte, or where the mysterious place of Kamihama City had called out to them in Mitakihara.

This Miki Sayaka was one of many, and death has its benefits. Closing her eyes, she probed deep into Matou Kariya’s abused body, looking for traces of foul magic.

_Just like locating a Witch – both that and these worms are equally cursed anyway. Man, I should have tried to become a doctor. Yeah, that, and I could’ve studied to cure him, instead of relying on that bloody furball._

It wasn’t difficult–the foreign, _squirming_ presences stood out like a sore thumb. And those presences had a link to…somewhere below them.

_Man, my Master’s body sure is ravaged badly._

Apart from trying to find the worms, she decided to send a little bit of prana her Master’s way, trying to get his battered body to repair itself.

The Magical Girl’s wish defined her magic, and her wish had been to heal another. Still, magic had never been her speciality, unlike her style of going head-on into situations.

 _Yeah, that’s another bad habit I share with that annoying redhead. In any case, if Mami-senpai could make_ muskets _out of_ ribbons _, and that transfer student could somehow_ stop time itself _, there was no darn way she couldn’t just_ make some sort of simple barrier or something to cut off these worms from their master–

“Man, I feel so much better now. What did you _do_?” The relief in Matou’s voice was palpable.

“Healed you a bit. Stopped the worms from snitching back to the old man. Now we can plot to free that little girl in peace.” Sayaka gave a grin, relaying the first piece of good news in the War, and flicked her cape out behind her.

_Hmm, why not act a bit like a Hero of Justice for once?_

~~[z]~~

Kariya quite literally sagged in relief, slumping sideways to rest on the bench. He couldn’t remember that last time after re-entering the Matou household that his mind had been this clear.

“Can you heal me a bit more, please?”

“I’m trying,” his Servant replied, “but I can’t take too much from you, or else the worms might tear out your insides more. I’m trying to find that sweet spot.”

“Thank you,” he said, and he meant it. “Wait, what’s your name? I never asked before.”

“Miki Sayaka, but it probably doesn’t mean much.”

 _So probably not a hero from the past…from the future? Is that even possible?_ Kariya recalled the studying he had done for the War.

_In any case, we might still have a way out of this. I just need to win…or kill Zouken. Or at the very least, get Sakura away from here._

“You know what?” Kariya rose from his seat. With his slowly-improving physical condition, he felt a lot more cheerful, and a lot more determined.

“Let’s go for a walk.”

_Let’s get away from this house, so we can plan._

~~[z]~~

“Hooh? So the spare plan actually managed to do something?” Zouken mused as he felt his connection to Kariya’s worms break. “There might be some hope for you yet…not that I would ever expect you to succeed.”

Worms or not, it wasn’t as if his “prodigal son” could ever do anything to challenge him.

* * *

**II.**

“ _Why are you still trying to make me listen to music? Do you really want to see me suffer?”_

_Friend. Love. Hospital bed._

…

“ _Now, then. What shall be the wish that will make your Soul Gem shine?”_

“ _Heal Kamijou Kyousuke’s arm. Let him play the violin again.”_

_Determination._

…

“ _Oh, please don’t tell me you_ actually _made the contract for some stupid whim, like rescuing people and acting like a hero of justice.”_

“ _So what if I did!?”_

_Red hair. Spear-user. Enemy._

“ _If you can’t understand what I’m saying, I’ll just have to beat it into you!”_

Kariya awoke, the dream forgotten, left with only a sense of unease.

~~[z]~~

Hiding in the shadows near the Fuyuki waterfront, Master and Servant observed the battle between Lancer and Saber.

The admonishing tone of Kayneth Archibald ordering Lancer to use his Noble Phantasm drifted across to them.

“Magi sure are a whole different breed, huh,” Kariya muttered to himself. Using a Command Seal this early? Evidently Magecraft and basic strategy were two completely different things.

Berserker said nothing from beside him. Unfortunately, one side-effect of summoning what Kariya assumed to be a Heroic Spirit from the future was Berserker’s inability to go intangible, which was why she was watching the clash with him now.

It was also why he had to stretch his meagre resources to buy his Servant _normal_ clothes that did not appear to be a costume right out of Sunday-morning anime. At the very least, she could now switch between the two on the fly.

Kariya’s musings were interrupted by the appearance of Rider’s appearance and his challenge to all hiding Servants. At Berserker’s movement, he placed a hand on her shoulder. “No, Berserker, we can’t.”

“B-but it’s dishonourable to–“

“Sakura’s sake, Berserker.” At the mention of the girl, he felt his Servant’s shoulders slump slightly. “Also, that is _Alexander the Great_ that’s out there. As in, the man that conquered half of Asia in his time. We really should wait and see.”

_I guess some of that freelance writing paid off after all._

“Yeah, okay.” Berserker gritted her teeth, but she no longer indicated that she wanted to charge out.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” Kariya spoke while continuing to fix his eyes on the Servants. Saber. Lancer. Rider. And now Archer. “For asking you to go against your values as a hero.”

“Heh. A hero, huh. It doesn’t really make me happy, but fine.” _And I’m not exactly a “real” hero anyway,_ Sayaka mused to herself. “Woah, that golden Archer looks crazy strong.”

“Tokiomi’s Servant.” Kariya felt his face contort into a snarl. _As usual, he summoned something completely unfair_. “Much as I’d like to send you out against him, I don’t think you’d stand a chance.”

“No kidding.”

Master and Servant continued to watch the exchange.

“Actually…”

_No sane Master would send their Servant out in this confusion, but…_

“…Berserker, if I sent you out, could you be able to…” Kariya rummaged around in his mind for the words, “disengage from the fight?”

Sayaka glanced around at the shipping yard, where puddles of water remained. “Yeah, I think I can manage that.”

“Good, because I want you to piss off that Archer.” Kariya formed a grim smile on his face. “He looks like the arrogant sort,” _just like his Master_ , “so just…poke him for a bit.”

“You got it, Master.”

“Careful, though.” Kariya looked at the multitude of golden rings behind Archer. “If he’s an Archer, shooting weapons might be his Noble Phantasm. And if you’re overwhelmed, retreat immediately. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

~~[z]~~

From the shadows, Sayaka leapt and landed the midst of the confrontation. There, she stood silent, her face still hidden by her cloak’s hood, and made only to draw a single cutlass.

 _What Servant is this? Not Lancer, not Archer, not Rider…_ Saber mused. “Berserker? But…” _With that small stature and poise…a woman?_

No palpable aura of power. No expression. Nothing…which could sometimes be even more ominous then something monstrous.

“Hey, Master. How strong is he?” Rider motioned to Waver. “What do you mean you can’t tell?”

Waver shook his head. “It feels like a Servant…but a normal human at the same time? What kind of Servant is this?”

Beneath her hood, Sayaka grinned, and turned to face Archer.

_Storybook heroes of myth and legend, huh?_

“You dare gaze upon me with that impudent look, mongrel?” The Gate of Babylon turned, shifted, and fired without hesitation.

_It’s fast!_

Materializing another sword in hand, Sayaka drew upon her magic, deflecting away projectile after projectile, as best as she could. With each new blade that came her way, she could feel herself slipping deeper into the battle trance, deeper into raw instinct.

With the first salvo passed, she now sported several nicks on her sides, which immediately healed themselves. More importantly, her hood was now down.

 _Berserker, it’s too dangerous._ Matou worriedly communicated. _You need to withdraw._

At this point, however, her Master’s voice had dwindled into a whisper.

“A woman? Nay, a girl? You presume yourself worthy enough to step before me, _and_ dare to even ruin my precious treasures?” Archer scoffed. “Know your pl–“

Two wheel-shaped projectiles, more that of Oktavia’s than Sayaka’s, hurtled towards Archer and cut down his lamppost-perch.

“MONGREL!”

The second wave came.

~~[z]~~

 _Ah, this sure is bad._ Kariya could feel the agitation of the worms beneath his skin. Flesh was devoured and regenerated equally quickly by the virtue of Berserker’s magic. The same magic dulled the pain into a muted burn, preserving Kariya’s mental faculties.

Yet, impossibly, Berserker was actually advancing towards Archer. Half of the blades were being deflected, and the damage from the other half was being healed at one could only call an impossible rate…which was worrying in itself, since there had to be some hidden cost somewhere.

Thankfully, it was at this point whereby Archer abruptly stopped and withdrew, no doubt through the use of a Command Seal.

_Heh, that’s one victory today._

_Berserker, come back,_ he ordered, but to no avail. _Berserker!_

Instead, he felt his Servant turn towards…Lancer? _Who the hell is “Kyouko”?_

He could not use a Command Seal. Not this early into the War. A _curious wave of despair_ washed over him.

 _Her true name!_ Kariya furiously thought. _What was her true name?_

~~[z]~~

With the golden Archer gone, Berserker turned towards the remaining three Servants. A red lance caught her eye, and memories of _her other self_ rose to the surface.

_Berserker, come back. Berserker, withdraw!_

A wave of primal anger and grief surged, and she raised her sword again. Saber and Lancer tensed, while Rider looked on in contemplation.

 _Berserker!_ Miki Sayaka, _get a hold of yourself! Remember the plan. Retreat._ A voice sounded in her head, from a long distance away.

But who was Miki Sayaka? Wasn’t she O–

_Sayaka-chan, you calm down and get back here now!_

Right. She was.

“The plan,” she murmured to herself. In front of her, Saber and Lancer hesitatingly raised their weapons.

“Right.” She stumbled backwards, right onto a puddle, and swirled her cape to the front. A curtain of water rose.

When it splashed down again, Berserker was nowhere to be found.

* * *

**III.**

“Well, that could have gone better.”

After fleeing the waterfront, the pair were now in a cheap fast-food restaurant, the dingy types that were open 24 hours a day. (Both agreed to spend as much time away from the Matou home as possible.)

Berserker, once again dressed in her normal clothes (dark blue jeans skirt, light blue blouse, and a beige hoodie) was sitting dejectedly opposite her Master, munching on a fry.

“Sorry, Master.”

“Hmm.” Kariya ate quietly. “I think it’s time you tell me about your abilities.”

“Master.” The Berserker, Miki-san, did not look too happy.

“I know we agreed before that what I didn’t know I couldn’t reveal accidentally, but today,” Kariya glanced at the clock, “was too much a close shave.”

Berserker sighed. “Fine then, Master.” Checking the barrier to see if Zouken’s senses were still occluded, she launched into her tale. “The truth is, I’m not really a hero at all. I’m just a–“

An ordinary human who made a deal with an extra-terrestrial magical being. In exchange for a single wish, one became a warrior doomed to fight entropy for the rest of their life, a Magical Girl.

She told him further, about the Soul Gem, a Magical Girl’s source of power and life, and of Witches–how, if a Magical Girl exhausted herself in battle, or even succumbed to negative emotion, they were doomed to become monsters which would destroy everything.

“But you don’t have a…Soul Gem.” Kariya murmured uncertainly. The parallel world that his Servant had came from seemed so fantastical, and yet here she was, sitting before him as proof of it.

“I don’t.” Berserker reached up and felt her belly, where her Soul Gem usually resided in battle. She had made her wish, not from the heart, nor from the head, but, as she realised afterward, from the body, and the Gem’s placement reflected that. Not that she would tell her Master her wish now… “I think the Grail system here changed the magic to fit. Effectively, the Master is probably the equivalent now…or something.”

Kariya considered her words, gazing at his left wrist as he did so. The Command Seals held a strange design: two musical notes, situated on a staff with a treble clef. The way the lines ran across the inner side of his wrist held an irony any self-harming individual could appreciate. “Or something,” he replied absently. “Well, the exact way it works doesn’t really matter, so long as it works.” He looked up at his Servant again. “And your Noble Phantasm?”

“It draws from a place of negative emotion, where the Witch is. The more I use strength that comes from _over there_ , or even use the magic of the Witch, the more…insane I become.” She looked over at her Master’s sombre expression. “Come now, Master. I was summoned as Berserker for a reason. Anyway, back then, I wasn’t the most emotionally stable person either.” She gave a grin, and resumed chomping down on her burger.

 _Symposium Margarum_. Kariya mused. _A symposium of witches. And a symphony and an orchestra…_ “Hey, Berserker. What did you wish for?” He saw his Servant’s face contort into a grimace, and immediately knew it was the wrong question to ask.

“Master.” She put her burger down to stare intently at Kariya. “That isn’t relevant to my capacity to fight, so please don’t ask.”

“Alright, alright.”

They ate in silence for a few more minutes, before Kariya broached the next question. “Say, do you mind if I call you by your surname instead? To call someone who looks like you ‘Berserker’ doesn’t really seem…well…”

“Only if you’ll let me do the same likewise, Master.”

* * *

**IV.**

“ _I know all about it, the little rich boy that lives here. Christ, you wasted your only chance for a miracle on something so stupid?”_

_Red hair. Provocation._

“ _Magic is only supposed to be used to grant miracles for yourself. No good will come out of using it for another’s sake, you know?”_

_Anger. Selfishness._

“ _If you want him so much, just go in there and break his limbs. Then he’ll be helpless to do anything without you.”_

_Anger._

“ _He’ll be yours in both body and heart. Heh, I’ll even do it for you. Consider it a favour from a fellow Magical Girl.”_

“ _I…will never forgive you!”_

“Matou-san, wake up.” A voice shook him awake. “The Church is going to issue an announcement soon.”

“Miki?” Kariya groggily crawled out of his bed. Two names remained in his head.

_Kamijou Kyousuke. Sakura Kyouko._

~~[z]~~

“Are you _sure_ the familiars aren’t too much of a drain, Miki?”

“Don’t worry too much. These aren’t _entirely_ from Witch-side magic, so the most is that I’ll be a bit more cranky when they’re out.” Berserker replied.

Kariya supposed it was better than summoning the worms. His Servant’s magic was much more efficient than his own. Besides, nobody would ever expect the fish-tailed cotton balls to have come from him.

 _But what kind of name is “Anthony”?_ The Master considered the question for several counts before dismissing it as just another of his Servant’s childish quirks–which was perfectly reasonable, given Berserker’s age.

The pair listened in silence as the priest laid a bounty upon Caster’s head.

~~[z]~~

“Einzbern Castle? The forest?” Kariya asked.

“Yeah, that’s where Caster is.” Sayaka turned up her nose. All Servants could sense each other to some extent, but the ‘smell’ of Caster stood out the most to Sayaka–it reminded her too much of a Witch for her to be comfortable. “Besides, he’s the one that’s been hunting children; you put together the facts yourself. If Sakura–“

“Sakura doesn’t go out of the house enough for there to be a risk,” Kariya pointed out, a pang hitting him as he did so.

“Even so, Master, he’s a monster that needs to be stopped.” _And this time I have no Soul Gem that’ll go dark,_ Sayaka thought. “Please, Master.”

“Fine. We’ll go. Hopefully Saber and Lancer don’t attack you on sight.”

~~[z]~~

“Saber, look out!” Sayaka’s warning cry jerked the King of Knights to awareness.

Even as Saber slashed downwards at the errant tentacle reaching for her foot, multiple more lunged towards her.

_No! With my left hand sealed, I can’t–_

Sayaka came in, cutlasses whirling about like a chime in a wind. The aspect of healing that was ‘purification’ honed her blades further, letting them tear more easily through the cursed flesh summoned by Prelati’s Spellbook.

“Yo, Saber! Need a hand?”

“Berserker?!” Saber started in surprise. _I thought she was too insane to even speak!_

“Yeah, I know I wasn’t exactly sociable that day at the waterfront, but do you mind if we,” Sayaka glanced around at the tentacled horrors, “worked together for a bit?”

Saber took a quick look, scanning Sayaka’s appearance. _Boyish, but definitely a girl. Can’t be older than me. She looks like a knight as well? But she’s not from the Round Table. And the age…could she possibly…_

“Oh, by the way,” Sayaka continued, now back-to-back with _King bloody Arthur_ , of all people (and she struggled to contain her excitement), “your boyfriend is on the way, too.”

“My boyfriend?”

Saber’s question was answered presently by the quick strikes of two spears, one gold and one crimson. “Lancer?”

“That performance was far from what I would expect from the King of Knights, Saber. It’s slightly disappointing.” Lancer landed lightly next to Saber.

“Good evening, Lancer. Good of you to join us.” Sayaka greeted casually.

“Berserker? I thought you were drowning in madness the last time I saw you. In any case, if you attempt any treachery here, I won’t hesitate to cut you down.” Diarmuid spoke, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

“Don’t worry. I’m only here for Caster. I’m not about to get in the middle of your lover’s quarrel, or knightly duel, or whatever you legendary heroes call it,” Sayaka smirked.

“Berserker!” Saber actually sounded scandalized.

“It’s a joke. A joke!” Sayaka waved an arm.

“In any case, I won’t allow Saber to be defeated in my presence, so long as she has lost an arm!” Lancer declared.

 _Man, I can almost hear the chivalry in his voice_ , Sayaka sighed. _I wonder if Kyouko thought I sounded like this the first time we met?_

“Lancer...” Saber started.

“Don’t get me wrong, Saber. My only orders tonight were to defeat Caster. I believe then that cooperation would be the best course of action. You too, Berserker.” He nodded to the youngest Servant.

“Sure thing, Lancer. But could you do me a favour and turn off that skill of yours?” Sayaka’s eye twitched again as her regeneration again purged the mental influence of Diarmuid’s Love Spot. “I don’t appreciate being charmed like that.” _And there’s the fact that he also uses a spear. Well, two spears, but the idea’s there!_

“Believe me, if I could I would have done it long ago. That has brought me no end of trouble.” Lancer shot back.

“Enough!” Caster roared. “How dare all of you interrupt my meeting with the Holy Maiden!” He raised his hand. “Be devoured!”

The wall of flesh closed in, and the three knightly Servants raised their blades.

~~[z]~~

Elsewhere in the forest, up in a tree where he had asked his Servant to place him, Kariya Matou watched through the eyes of his Berserker’s familiars. Stashing a few Anthonies in the trees and bushes had paid off, for now he could sense the other presences on the move.

Gripping a pen in his teeth, Kariya opened his notebook and began to write by the dim light of the moon.

Lancer’s Master, that arrogant blue-robed Mage that gave off the same scent as Tokiomi. That Einzbern woman, Saber’s Master, who seemed pacifistic, and her female guard who used modern weapons. Another Einzbern ally seemed to be in the castle also. And lastly, an Executor of the Church, heading towards the Einzbern party.

_But isn’t that Assassin’s Master? Wasn’t Assassin defeated early on?_

He recalled words that he had been vaguely dreaming of the past few days. _Each time you wish for happiness, someone else gets cursed with an equal amount of misery in exchange, huh?_

There was something amiss in the Grail War, Kariya thought.

_But it doesn’t matter to me. I only need to win for Sakura’s sake. Then again, I should also probably…plan for what happens if I fail._

Kariya tried not to think about Aoi.

He returned to watching the battle take place, feeling the worms throb below his skin.

~~[z]~~

“Well, this isn’t getting far, is it?” Sayaka snarked as she found herself in the exact same spot she had been. As the battle had worn on, she had started to conserve her energy, leaving most of the legwork to the other two more competent Servants.

“It’s his spellbook,” Saber grimly stated. “As long as he holds his Noble Phantasm, the situation isn’t going to change.”

“And we need to get past the wall of flesh to get rid of it in the first place,” Lancer concurred.

The three of them eyed the familiars again.

“Are you up for a gamble, Lancer, Berserker?” Saber ventured.

“As much as I hate to admit we couldn’t outlast him, it’s also pointless to continue fighting only familiars.” Lancer looked properly annoyed. “Very well.”

“Yeah, what he said.”

“Very well, then. I’ll clear a path. Lancer, you go through and pierce the book. Berserker, you make sure the path remains clear.”

Caster was shouting something again, but he was being ignored.

“Remember, run with the wind.” Saber raised her sword. “Ready?”

Lancer tensed himself and prepared to spring–

“ _Strike Air!”_ At Saber’s roar, Lancer shot through the path, followed by Berserker. The deft work of twin spears and thrown cutlasses cut down anything else that remained.

The tip of Gáe Dearg, _Crimson Rose of Exorcism_ , sliced through Prelati’s Spellbook. In its wake, Sayaka surged forward and delivered a devastating slash to Caster–

–who then promptly dematerialized, curses on his lips, as his familiars returned to their base material and exploded.

“Eyaaaa!” Sayaka screamed in horror as she was coated in a fine mist of blood.

Lancer and Saber exchanged a glance. _Just what kind of hero is she?_

“Worthless coward.” A few mild applications of _Strike Air_ purged the remains of the mist as Saber stepped forward. “Lancer, is something wrong?”

“My Lord is in danger. It seems he left me here and breached the castle himself.” Lancer frowned.

“Must be the work of _my_ Master, then.” Saber did not look too happy. “Lancer, go forth and rescue your Master.” She glanced at the third Servant in their midst. “If Berserker dares to interfere–“

“I already said I won’t,” Sayaka pouted at the two of them. “You really should go, Lancer. And take care of that face of yours, it’s highly distracting.” Her eye twitched again as she finished her statement.

Lancer had a look of mild amusement on his face. “My thanks then, King of Knights, Berserker.”

“We did swear to settle this as knights did. Go, Lancer.”

With a final nod, Lancer faded away, leaving Berserker alone with Saber.

“So, Berserker,” Saber now turned to face Sayaka, “do you now face me in battle?”

“Truce, truce!” Sayaka hurriedly scrambled backwards and laid down her blades in deference. “Until Caster is defeated, at least. On my honour and all that!”

The King of Knights took in Sayaka’s panicked expression, and made a decision. “Very well, then.” Saber lowered her blade. “A truce until this cur of a Caster is defeated. So long as my Master doesn’t order otherwise.”

Sayaka giggled.

“What is it, Berserker?”

“Sorry,” the blue-haired Servant gave another small laugh. “It’s just, I’ve never seen anyone say ‘cur’ with that serious expression before.”

“It’s not that funny, Berserker!” Saber instantly shouted back in indignation.

“Also, why are you a girl, King Arthur? That’s not what I learnt in school.” _And I owe Darc twelve lollipops now, great. No wonder she was laughing her head off went I said I was headed for a Grail War._

Saber could feel a headache beginning to form from the question alone, jumping slightly as something entered her awareness. _What you learnt in school…a hero from the modern age?_

“Hey, Berserker,” Saber ignored Sayaka’s question. “You seem to have an knightly attitude yourself.” _Notwithstanding her conduct at the harbour._ “Tell me your name, so that I might remember it.”

 _Hey, Matou-san._ Berserker mentally communicated back. _Is it okay to tell her?_

Kariya considered the situation. _Telling her would probably win some degree of friendship. But the other Masters might become paranoid and gang up on us. Might_. He made the decision.

_Go ahead, Berserker._

_Roger that, Master._ Sayaka thought back. “I’m Sayaka. Miki Sayaka.”

Saber searched the information that the Grail had provided about the world…and came up empty. _A hero from the modern world, then. Or…_ She shuddered, as the other, more chilling possibility came to her. _Or she made a pact with the World, like I did to find the Holy Grail?_

(In several other timelines, in the Fifth Holy Grail War or after, she would have come to the same conclusion about the Archer who used to bear the name of Emiya Shirou.)

Her connection to Irisviel pinged, and told her that her not-Master was in danger. “Well met, Miki Sayaka. I am Arturia Pendragon. Apologies, but I need to take my leave for now.”

Saber dashed off into the forest.

 _What was that?_ Sayaka wondered.

 _Miki-san, it seemed that Saber’s Master was in danger._ The report came from her Master. _The Executor came and wounded her and her assistant quite badly, but then he retreated._

 _Wounded badly?_ Sayaka thought. _In that case…_

“Saber, wait up!”

~~[z]~~

“Irisviel!” Saber shook her Master in all but Command Seals. “Irisviel, hang in there!”

“Saber…” Irisviel murmured. “There’s…a Servant…”

“What!” Saber spun around, only to see Sayaka still here. “Berserker! You–“ she was torn between drawing Excalibur and staying at Iri’s side, but Berserker raised her hands again.

“Wait! I’m not here to–I can heal others! Let me help!”

 _Berserker, what are you doing?_ Kariya’s impatient voice sounded over the link.

 _The right thing to do._ Sayaka gave a short reply and cut her Master off. There were going to be words later, but for now, she’d do what she thought was best, and damn the consequences.

“It’s okay, Saber.” Irisviel spoke from the ground. “I’ll be fine in a bit, with you here. Let Berserker heal Maiya.” _If she’s honest, then we can use the help. And if she happens to be doing anything funny, Kiritsugu and Saber can take care of it._

Saber looked to the enemy Servant, and gestured towards Maiya.

Immediately, Berserker rushed over and laid her hands on the assistant’s chest. A soft blue glow effused into the clearing, and a quiet moan could be heard.

“Cracked ribs, bruised lungs,” Sayaka diagnosed, matter-of-factly. “You’ll have to patch her up more later, but she’ll live.” She stood, straightening her mantle. “Man, just wait until I tell Darc that I helped out King bloody Arthur,” she muttered.

 _Miki Sayaka._ Saber thought. _Who are you? What did you wish for, and what are you wishing for?_ Outwardly, she spoke. “Why, Berserker?”

“I dunno, Saber. Maybe I just like helping people. Or maybe because you’re just that cute, Saber.”

“You–“

“Anyway, see you soon, King Arthur. You can ask me out for a date anytime. Ah, but just as friends!”

With a swish of her cape, Sayaka left.

Silence descended on the clearing. Then Irisviel spoke, a mischievous smile on her face.

“Saber–“

“Say no more, Irisviel.”

“But–“

“Shut up, Irisviel.”

~~[z]~~

“Berserker, why did you do that?” Kariya asked. He knew that the Einzbern party would likely have been fine in any case, but it still galled him slightly that his Servant had explicitly displayed such open charity to another Master.

“Like I said, I just like helping people.” Berserker replied with a tilt of the head. “More cynically, it’ll be easier to secure an alliance with them later on, if you so wished.”

“I suppose that is acceptable.” Kariya didn’t look particularly happy, but he didn’t press on the issue further.

“Really, Master, I don’t see the problem. You just want to save Sakura, right?”

“And that requires winning the Grail for Zouken, Berserker,” Kariya sighed.

The Servant gave her Master an impassive look. “If you say so, Master.” In lieu of dematerialization, she manifested her cape (and only the cape), and tugged its hood down, shutting out the world.

* * *

**V.**

“ _Why didn’t you tell us?!”_

“ _You never asked. Besides, it wouldn’t have bothered you if you had never found out.” The voice was matter-of-fact, as if pointing out some elementary truth of the world._

_So that’s it, then? This body is now just…some sort of puppet?_

…

“ _Miracles aren’t free. If you wish for hope, an equal amount of despair is scattered into the world. That’s how the balance of the world is maintained.”_

_The words echoed dully on the crumbling walls of the abandoned church._

“ _Why are you telling me this? I thought you only lived for yourself?”_

“ _Because I don’t want you to make the same mistakes that I did.”_

… _maybe I was wrong about her after all?_

“ _You know, I’m sorry for getting the wrong idea about you. But I don’t regret using my wish for someone else.”_

“ _Don’t be stupid!”_

_I could hear the pain in her voice, but what she’s doing…I could never live like that._

…

“ _What about you, Sayaka? Can you accept your true feelings?”_

_There’s no way…_

“ _I will confess my love to Kamijou-kun after school tomorrow. Decide whether or not you’ll tell him how you feel before that. Make sure you do something you won’t regret.”_

_There’s no way…_

…

 _It was impossible. I cried and cried and cried some more, holding on to_ my friend _as if there was nothing else left in the world._

_I was going to lose Kyousuke to Hitomi, and there was nothing I could do about it. After all…I was already dead, right? This body is just a shell of flesh, and I was nothing better than a zombie._

_How could I ever ask him to kiss my cold, dead lips? How could I even think I had the right to fall in love with him?_

_Yeah, it was impossible. How could I ever think I could be happy?_

…

_I laughed as I tore into the Witch._

_You’re right! It didn’t hurt at all!_

…

“ _Keep it.” I tossed the Grief Seed over to Kyouko. “I don’t want to owe you anything.”_

“ _H-hey!”_

…

“ _I won’t associate with people who use or abandon others. I don’t need any reward for my work. I’ll never use magic for my own benefit.”_

_I stared at the transfer student’s annoying face._

“ _You’re going to die.” She spoke._

“ _Only when I can’t kill any more Witches.” I shrugged off her comment. “And then I won’t be any use anyway.”_

_That’s fine. After all, someone like me has no place in the world. Someone like me, who even entertained the thought of letting my own friend die to a Witch, just so I could have my crush all to myself._

_I sure am despicable. But I can at least do some good to make up for it._

…

_From afar I watched quietly as Hitomi confessed, watched as an easy laughter found its way to Kyousuke’s lips._

_It didn’t hurt at all. It didn’t._

_It didn’t._

…

_I stared at the men that were laughing without care on the night train. With comments like those…_

“ _Hey, I wonder if this world is even worth fighting for.”_

_That’s right, if there were people like this who would just discard others after using them…_

_I summoned my magic from within me, and–_

…

“ _Hey, how long more are you going to keep this up?”_

_Sakura Kyouko sat down next to me. She was an enemy, but now I think she’s one of the few honest people that cared for me. Not that it was going to matter in a while._

“ _I’m sorry for wasting your time.” I felt myself say the words._

“ _Huh. That doesn’t sound like you at all.” Her voice was from beside me, and yet it felt like a long, long way away. Yeah, Kyouko. That’s just because…_

“… _I don’t really care any more. What was important, and what was worth protecting? I can’t recall them any longer.”_

“ _Hey, Sayaka!” Kyouko’s voice was full of panic. I couldn’t see it, but in my hand, my Soul Gem must have grown darker and darker._

“ _You told me before. The balance of hope and despair always evens out to zero. I think I finally understand what you mean.”_

“ _Sayaka!”_

_I really was a fool._

…

_I could hear voices, but I couldn’t recognize them. Why couldn’t they just be quiet?_

_It’s so annoying._

_**They’re disturbing the music.** _

…

“Don’t worry, Sayaka.”

_The voice sounded familiar. Was it ____?_

“I know you don’t want to be alone.”

_Yeah, I know this voice. But it’s too late for me, isn’t it?_

“So I’ll be with you. Until the very end.”

_Yeah, I’m sorry for leaving you behind, too. I’m sorry for turning into a monster._

_But thank you for staying with me._

_The world ended–_

–and Matou Kariya awoke with a start, perfect clarity washing over him.

_Berserker…no. Magical Girl Miki Sayaka. That was your wish?_

Suddenly, Kariya couldn’t stand being in his room. He swung his legs off the bed.

~~[z]~~

“Hello, Sakura. Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“Who are you, onee-chan?”

“Me? I’m just a Hero of Justice.” Sayaka grinned. “I’m your uncle’s Servant in the Holy Grail War.”

“But you look like a normal girl and all.” Sakura pointed out. “Anyway, sometimes I can’t sleep.”

Sayaka debated saying something like “well, Servants don’t really need sleep”, but that wasn’t exactly the truth. _Besides, her eyes remind me of_ someone who’s given up on nearly everything _,_ Sayaka mused. _And they’re also purple? Come on, world._

Taking into account the sum total of her knowledge, both before and _after her death_ , Sayaka spoke. “Well, sometimes I can’t sleep either. Want to go up to the roof?” It would provide a break before she started interrogating her Master, considering the _dreams she just woke up from._

Oh, she had some questions about her Master’s motives.

Especially concerning a certain Tohsaka née Zenjou Aoi.

“I shouldn’t, though. I should go back to sleep.” Sakura spoke quietly.

“Well…I’ll just kidnap you, then!” Putting a wide grin on her face, the Servant scooped up the little girl in her arms and proceeded up the staircase.

By her Master’s story, the girl had suffered enough for a lifetime. Sayaka simply decided to inject some good cheer into her life.

 _And there it is._ As they walked up the stairs, Kariya’s niece clinging to her without protest, Sayaka could feel the faint pulse of the worms under Sakura’s skin, as well.

_These will be harder to deal with. And if she’s the heir, the old man is going to be watching her even more closely than he does Kariya. Hell, what are we still doing in this house? We’re letting our guard down every time we sleep._

She kept her thoughts to herself.

If everything turned out well, her nightmare might be over soon.

~~[z]~~

“Sakura-chan? Ber– _Miki-san_?” Kariya voiced his surprise.

“Good evening, Matou-san. The stars are bright tonight, aren’t they?” Sayaka met the eyes of her Master. In her lap, she was holding Sakura, who seemed to be contentedly looking up at the sky. “Hey, Sakura-chan,” she stroked the girl’s hair, “I think it’s time for you to go back to bed. Rest well and stay strong, okay?”

She opened her arms, and Sakura slid off and landed softly on the ground.

“Thank you, onee-san. See you again, onee-san. Good night, Kariya-oji-san.” With that, Sakura left.

“Berserker…” Kariya started.

“Don’t look at me like that.” The Servant held the Master’s gaze. “It’s not as if the poor girl hasn’t suffered enough.”

“I know.” Kariya’s expression softened. “Thank you for doing that. That was probably the most physical affection she’s received in a year.”

“It was nothing.”

Silence passed, and a cold wind blew through the night.

“Miki-san, how are you here? I saw…I saw everything. In the dreams. You’re not a…you’re just a…”

“Just a normal girl that made a wish, yeah. A simple wish, with so much consequence.” Sayaka leaned back on the bench and stared into the sky. “You already know, then. _The entire story._ How much of an idiot I was. About how I tried to do the right thing.”

Kariya could only nod. “Is that why you’re helping people now? Being so insistent on going after Caster, and then healing the Einzbern’s assistant?” Much as he didn’t intend for it, a faint note of accusation had slipped into his voice.

“You know, I kind of expected it to come to this.” Sayaka gave a wry smile. “It’s strange. Even after all this time, I never regretted my wish. Everything else after, yes, but the wish itself, I don’t.” She paused. “It’s not that helping others is bad. It’s just…I thought that, in the end, maybe someone would acknowledge me for sacrificing myself, and I’d be happy, but it just turned out that I was running away from my own problems.”

“Miki-san…” His Servant was normally cheerful, or at least kept a cheerful veneer, so for her to be this…talkative, so to speak, was quite a shock. Then again, it wasn’t as if he truly knew her before the dreams came.

“You know, that’s one of the advantages of being dead.” Sayaka stood. “You get to see your whole life, and then you realize your mistakes, like not being honest with yourself. When you wish for something, when you do something, you have to know, _truly_ , why you’re doing that thing. _Which brings me to you, Master._ ”

“Wha–“

In a single, swift motion, Sayaka transformed, grabbed Kariya, and threw him into the bench.

“Berserker–“

Sayaka’s sword was now at her Master’s throat.

“A good friend said once: ’I don’t want you to make the same mistakes as me.’” Sayaka moved the sword a bit closer. “She also said something else, which was ‘If you can’t understand what I’m saying, I’ll just have to beat it into you,’ which is the part we’re skipping to right now.” The Servant stared down her Master as she spoke.

“Why, Berserker?”

“Why? Because with how deep you’re in denial now, Master, I don’t think words can get to you. Now, Master, answer me. _Who is Zenjou Aoi?”_

~~[z]~~

From the basement, Matou Zouken listened, savouring each line of conversation like a sip of fine wine.

“Ho ho ho. The play gets more interesting by the second.”

~~[z]~~

“Berserker–“

“Answer me, Master.”

“She’s just a childhood friend, Berserker.” Kariya raised his hands placatingly.

“For the Law’s sake, Master, listen to yourself.” Sayaka sighed. “I saw…well, not everything, but enough. You still love her, don’t you?”

“I–I…”

“Master, I was fourteen when I made my wish, and even then, I think I still somehow understand better than you, a working adult.”

“Shut up! I already told you, she’s only a childhood friend! I let go of that when she married Tohsaka! She made her choice!”

“She did.” Sayaka’s sword point had not moved. “But you didn’t fight it, didn’t you? You let it go. You just peacefully gave it up, ‘for the sake of her happiness’. But in here,” Sayaka shifted the sword point down to Kariya’s chest, “the feelings remain.”

“You–“ Kariya sputtered in anger. He raised his forearm. “I should order you to–“

“Do it, then.” Sayaka said, her voice now frosty. “Use a Command Seal. Give up an advantage in the War, just so that you don’t have to hear your own Servant reveal _your own feelings_ to you.” She idly continued. “Come on, Master. Of all the Servants present on that night at the wharf, you couldn’t resist having me attack Tohsaka’s Archer, and _only_ the Archer. That’s not counting the other reactions you would always show whenever he’s mentioned. I can sense emotions though our link, you know.”

Kariya dropped his hand.

“If you said you knew my _entire story_ , the whole of it, then you know. You know what happens when someone forcibly suppresses their own desires, their own true thoughts and self. It was true that I wanted to help others and to uphold justice. But it was also true that, at that time, I also wanted something else, maybe even more than my ideals.”

Sayaka lowered her sword, and continued. “You say that you want to free Sakura-chan, because the Matou Magecraft is built on a foundation of pain and suffering. That may be true. But you want something else more than that, didn’t you? Something else that made you stay in contact with Aoi and her children, something else that made you go back, again and again, even after you said you were going to turn your back on Magecraft.”

Sayaka grabbed Kariya and shook him bodily.

“Why are you _actually_ in the Grail War, Master?”

 _It doesn’t hurt at all_. Kariya recalled the words that his Servant had spoken desperately to herself, again and again. _Why is such a girl barely over half my age berating me about my love life? Aren’t I supposed to be the dependable one? Aren’t I supposed to be the Master?_

_For who’s sake did I return to the Matou? For who’s sake did I agree to fight in the Fourth Holy Grail War?_

Kariya began to laugh. It was not a strong, hearty laugh, like someone like the King of Conquerors Iskandar would have gave. It was a desperate, hopeless laughter of someone with one foot in the grave, head turned towards a desolate sky. The phrase “he wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry” would be especially apt, but it didn’t matter this counted as neither and both at the same time.

When he had finally calmed down, he spoke again. “Yeah, Berserker. You’re absolutely fucking right. I love Aoi. I loved her then, and I still love her now, for reasons I don’t even know.”

There was a high, brittle note in Kariya’s voice.

“I’m a jealous bastard. There isn’t a day where I wished Rin and Sakura weren’t my own children, isn’t a day whereby I wish Aoi didn’t agree to marry a Mage–didn’t agree to marry Tohsaka.” He raised his head to stare at his Servant. “And even now, I thought I could defeat Tokiomi, bring back the Grail, and show her who’s the better man. But that’s an impossible dream, isn’t it?” He stared right into Berserker’s eyes. “Is that want you wanted out of me, o Hero of Justice Magical Girl?”

Sayaka only stared back impassively.

“Heh.” Kariya gave another short bark of laughter. “Even if I bring Sakura back to Aoi, it won’t change anything for me. I don’t know what I was even thinking in the first place.”

“Yeah, so you might as well give up now, right? I see how it is.” Seizing Kariya’s collar, or at least the front of his shirt, Magical Girl Miki Sayaka, Berserker-class Servant of the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War, threw her Master over the edge of the Matou residence’s rooftop.

~~[z]~~

“Hahaha. AhahahHAHA!” Zouken wheezed in laugher. Seeing his son laid bare before him, recriminated by his own Servant, his shame dragged out into the open–today had truly provided an excellent meal.

It seemed that his decision might bear some fruit after all.

* * *

**VI.**

_I’ve spotted Rin._ Sayaka’s thought came in loud and clear over the link. _She’s being pursued by Caster’s familiars. Should I–_

_Don’t. Much as it’ll pain me, I’ll use the Blade Wing Worms. I don’t want to alert Caster to an enemy Servant’s presence._

_Got it_.

_Oh, and stay with me to take care of Rin. If Aoi is coming to pick her up, I want you to meet her as well._

_Is the package on you, Master?_

_Like I would let it out of my sight_. Kariya severed the mental connection, and winced as he prepared to summon the damn worms.

It was just ridiculous how much pain the Matou Magecraft put its users through. It made him wonder if it was somehow designed to inflict maximum suffering.

~~[z]~~

“Rin!” Aoi’s panicked cry caused Kariya to look up. Beside him, Sayaka sat, Rin’s head in her lap.

_Huh, guess they really are sisters after all._

“Rin!” Noticing her daughter, Aoi ran over to the park bench, where she stopped hesitantly. “Kariya…-kun? What are you doing here?”

Thanks to his contract with Sayaka, Kariya no longer looked quite as ghastly as he did right after his “training”. Still, his once-handsome face had fallen a long way, and much as she had tried, blindness couldn’t be cured so long after the initial damage.

“Yo, Aoi-san. This place is dangerous, you know.” Kariya flipped back his hood, eliciting a gasp of horror from his old friend, even as he managed a lopsided smile. “You should take Rin-chan back quickly.”

“ _What_ are you doing here, Kariya? And your face…and who is this?”

“My friend. Sayaka-san, this is Zenjou…ah, Tohsaka Aoi. Aoi-san, this is Miki Sayaka.”

“Ah, thank you for taking care of my daughter,” Aoi automatically greeted.

“No worries, Tohsaka-san.” Sayaka smiled. “Sakura is…well.” _Sakura isn’t exactly fine, but I can’t exactly tell her that now, can I?_ “I’ve seen Sakura. She’s a good girl.” _Yeah, that’s kind of the truth._

Aoi was, at this point, way over her head. “That’s…good.”

Abruptly, Sayaka stood. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment.” She walked off. _Master, one of my familiars detected a Servant. An Assassin. I’m going to chase it off._

 _Got it. Call if you need anything._ Turning his attention back outwards, he stood. “Aoi. Can we talk? I’ll walk you back to your car.”

“Kariya…are you alright?” She noticed the limp and the cane. “Tell me, how did you find Rin? Why are you in Fuyuki? And who was your friend? Why does she look like a teenager?”

“I came back because of Sakura.” Kariya answered simply. “Because I heard she got adopted by the Matou. Why?”

“Tokiomi said–“ Aoi broke off, as she readjusted Rin’s position in her arms. “Tokiomi said it was to let her potential grow as a Magus. Since there could only be one heir to the Tohsaka, Sakura’s talent would be wasted.”

“Yeah. But it’s not so simple. You see, the Matou family Magecraft…comes at a price.” He gestured at his face and his leg. “You offer your life, and your flesh gets consumed.” Noting Aoi’s shocked look, he continued. “If not for Sayaka-san’s healing magic, I would have looked much worse than this.”

They had reached the car, and Aoi opened the door to gently lay Rin down on the back seat.

“Then, Sakura–“

“Sakura’s even worse off than I am.” Kariya tried to ignore Aoi’s growing look of horror. “Both because she’s not of Matou blood…” he paused, not really wanting to deliver the final blow, “…and because she’s female.”

Aoi’s hand flew up to her mouth. “Y-you don’t mean…”

“Hey, can we sit down? In the car? This leg can’t hold up for long, and I need some light.”

They sat, Aoi in the driver’s seat, Kariya halfway in the front seat, legs outside the car, back to the driver.

_Kariya-san, the Assassin’s gone. I didn’t manage to defeat it, but he’s been chased off._

_Good, come to the carpark. We’ll need to check who’s his Master later._

With a rustle, Kariya retrieved the “package” that he had prepared, and laid down it’s contents beside him.

Aoi muffled a small scream as she looked at the photos of the Matou basement…and of Sakura’s ‘training’. “That…that’s…how could anyone…”

“I risked my life to take these photos.” Kariya stated matter-of-factly. “If Zouken knew I was exposing the secrets of his Magecraft to an outsider, he would have fed me to the worms, or caused by body to be eaten from the inside out.”

“How–“ Aoi nearly shouted, but remembered Rin was still sleeping soundly behind them. “How could you remain so calm about this?”

“Because I have a plan to get her out. But I need your help.”

“My help? But I can’t do anything! I-I’m not a Magus, or anything like that!”

“You’re Tokiomi’s wife.” As soon as Kariya said the words, a wave of bitterness washed over him, but he shook it off.

_Easy, Master._

_Don’t worry, Sayaka-chan._ “I can get her out, but you have to make sure Tokiomi doesn’t send her back.”

“He would never–“

“By sending Sakura away, he already showed how he would prioritise his obligations as a Magus over his duties as a father.” Kariya’s voice shook slightly as he delivered the line. He had practiced the different arguments over and over again, because if Aoi couldn’t be convinced to keep Sakura safe, there was no point in him extracting her. “And he didn’t even bother to check that the Matou Magecraft wasn’t anything dangerous.”

Aoi took in a breath. “But I…I agreed too…he said it wasn’t anything dangerous…just something normal for Magi…”

“I think you underestimate how twisted Magi are as human beings.” Kariya gave another lopsided smile. “But enough of this. Will you help me or not?”

Aoi met Kariya’s eyes–one good eye, and one now blind. “Kariya-kun…you…”

_You sacrificed your body…just for this?_

“I have no time, Aoi.” He glanced outside, where Sayaka was keeping a lookout.

“Okay.” Aoi had a look of grim determination set on her face. “What else do you need me to do?”

“Your phone number and address, in case.” He held out a piece of paper, and Aoi scribbled it down. “Also, prepare a safe room, outside the house–I’ll need it to teleport to and possibly operate on Sakura.”

“I’ll talk to my parents.” Aoi nodded. “But how are you going to come here? And how are you going to get Sakura out of…that place? I don’t think Zouken will be happy, won’t he?”

“With my Servant, I can do it.”

“Your Serv–Kariya, you can’t mean–“

“Zouken promised me that if I win the Grail, he’ll free Sakura. But this is the other way that I found.”

Aoi’s face held visible relief. _So he doesn’t need to kill Tokiomi after all._

“But, Aoi. You can’t tell Tokiomi, not right now.” He held up a hand. “If Tokiomi knows, and he confronts Zouken, Zouken will kill me for revealing family magic. I mean that literally. Please, Aoi. After I’m dead, or after the War’s over, you can tell him then.”

“All right.” Aoi hesitated. “Look, I know Tokiomi is my husband…but…you’re still my friend, okay? Please stay safe.”

“Don’t worry. And keep the evidence somewhere safe, too. I’ll call you if there are any updates.”

As the car drove off, Sayaka turned to Kariya. “Not bad, Master. You didn’t break down and say some insane thing like ‘I’ll definitely win the Grail and bring back Sakura!’”

“Yeah, well, I’ve come too far for that. Besides, it’s as you said, right? There’s no reward waiting for me at the end of the road. I just need to do what I have to do.”

“Kariya-san…” Sayaka trailed off. “It doesn’t have to end like…like how you said it would.”

They started walking back.

“Come on, Sayaka-chan. Look at me. You did a good job, but this body is already beyond repair.” The tapping of Kariya’s new cane punctuated the air. “Hell, I doubt that my p–“

“Master!” Sayaka shouted and covered her ears. “Don’t say things like that in front of a young lady!”

“And here I thought you were an old hag, what with the verbal beatdown you gave me.”

~~[z]~~

_Seizing Kariya’s collar, or at least the front of his shirt, Magical Girl Miki Sayaka, Berserker-class Servant of the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War, threw her Master over the edge of the Matou residence’s rooftop, then leapt after him._

_Kariya didn’t even have time to be shocked before he found himself crashing into…a padded seat?_

“ _Where are we, Berserker? What did you do?”_

“ _This is a Reality Marb–no, this is a Witch’s Barrier.” Sayaka gestured around at the empty concert hall. “Normally, my familiars would be playing music and I would be trying to kill anyone that steps foot in here, but today isn’t a performance day. More importantly, in this sealed-off space, nobody can hear us. Including the old man.”_

_Sayaka stuck her sword in the ground, then sat next to her Master. “So, what are you going to do now?”_

“ _Hell if I know. It certainly isn’t going to be winning the Grail War. Not with my inexperience as a Mage, and your parameters.” Kariya flopped lifelessly backwards. “Weren’t you angry at me before? Why’re you so calm now?”_

“ _I was never angry at you, Master. I just needed you to acknowledge yourself. People that aren’t honest with their true feelings, who wish for something else other than what they_ really _want…it doesn’t end well for them. Kyouko might have been selfish, but she had a point: if you don’t take care of yourself, nobody’s going to take care of you.” Sayaka mimicked her Master and laid back as well, sinking to the floor. “I ask you again: what are you going to do now?”_

“ _Sakura. I’m going to rescue her, because I made a promise. I said that ‘nothing would change for me’, but I can still change things for her. And after that…well, I don’t really have much to live for.” The unspoken implication hung in the air. “Perhaps I’ll kill Zouken. Or eradicate the perversity that is the Matou Magecraft.”_

“ _At least now you don’t expect the world to owe you anything, Master. Like having Aoi-san suddenly reciprocating your feelings.”_

“ _Hah.” Kariya smirked. “Perhaps if I did something like kill Tokiomi, then comfort her after his death…but that could never happen, and I would never be able to live with myself lying to her like that. You probably think I’m even more of a worm now, right? To even be entertaining these thoughts.”_

“ _You know…back then, when Kyouko suggested breaking Kyousuke’s legs…a small part of me actually considered it for a moment.” Sayaka spoke, to the surprise of Kariya. “And then I got twice as angry, because I never thought I could be so selfish.”_

“ _But you didn’t actually do it, right?”_

“ _Yeah. I didn’t. But the feelings were still there, and I still threw myself away, expecting a happy ending to magically come out of nowhere. You want a miracle, you have to work for it…or pay the price somewhere.” Sayaka’s voice turned harsh. “You know, if you hadn’t thought about Sakura after you realised your true feelings, I would have cut off your arm on the spot and went down there to rescue her myself. At least you’re still a decent human being.”_

“ _No, I’m not.” Kariya gave a dry laugh._

“ _No, you’re not,” Sayaka agreed, “but at least you’re trying to be.”_

_There was a sigh. “If only that didn’t involve my likely death.” Kariya let a few moments of silence pass, before speaking his next thought. “You know, you’re actually luckier than you think. Does Kyouko know about your feelings?”_

“ _Believe it,” Sayaka grumbled. “Or at least, one version of her does. Timelines are complicated. Well,” she said, getting to her feet, “now that you’ve decided on your true goal, your real goal, it’s time we stopped playing around, and used everything at our disposal.”_

“ _Everything?” Kariya was confused._

“ _Yeah, everything. Not just your Magecraft, but your brains too.”_

_After all, Sayaka thought, she knew one girl whose magic was so weak, and yet was still a terror through how she used her knowledge and plans._

~~[z]~~

“ _Can you teach your familiars how to operate a camera?”_

“ _Yes, but why?”_

“ _Photo evidence.” Kariya said simply. “Zouken might tolerate a lot since he thinks I’m just going to fail in the end, but disclosing family Magecraft to outsiders is something he won’t hesitate to stop. Oh, you can also assume every worm to have hearing, if not sight. And nearly every surface of the basement is covered in them.”_

“ _So, you’re saying the walls have ears, huh?”_

~~[z]~~

_By moonlight, Kariya perused the books of his family Magecraft, copying down parts he deemed relevant into his notebook._

_It wasn’t as if he could perform any spells, but he needed to find any chinks in the armour. Any weaknesses to the worms he could exploit._

The Matou Magecraft centers around absorption…Zouken was the one that came up with the Command Seals and the binding system…

_Facts and knowledge were turned over and over in his brain, even as the worms within him crawled about, producing mana to keep Berserker materialized._

* * *

**VII.**

“It’s a truce tonight, huh?”

“Berserker!” Saber turned to face Sayaka, still dressed in normal clothing.

 _That’s Berserker?_ Waver Velvet thought. _She looks just like a kid! And I still can’t see her parameters._

“Hey, wait up,” Kariya limped over. “I can’t walk that quickly.”

_Matou’s Master? This is the first time he’s showed himself in the open._

“In any case,” Rider continued, “Lancer agreed as well. He should be coming over soon.”

Saber glanced at Irisviel, who gave a short nod. “Understood, then. We agree to fighting with you as well. A short alliance it may be, but I pledge my loyalty to the common cause.”

“So do I, and my Master.” Sayaka placed her hand on her chest.

Kariya, meanwhile, was looking appraisingly at the other two Masters. _Irisviel Einzbern and Waver Velvet. If I needed help to eradicate the Matou…given Sayaka’s prior interactions with the King of Knights, I think I would go with the Einzbern._

“Einzbern, you all have a plan?” Velvet was speaking. “Lancer says this isn’t the first time you all fought Caster. Berserker too.”

A discussion of strategy ensued, during which Lancer showed up and Saber revealed casually that she could _walk on water._

“What will you do, Berserker?” Rider, who seemed to have taken charge, looked over at Sayaka. “Ride in my chariot? Attack from land?”

The Magical Girl tapped her chin. “Hmm, I think I’ll fight alongside Saber.” She gave a wink. “Is that okay?”

Saber nodded her assent. “That is fine. It will be reassuring to fight alongside a knight like you, Berserker.”

“Oh? That’s high praise from the King of Knights. I wonder what you did to deserve it?” Rider looked curiously at the youngest Servant. “But that’s a matter for later. Let’s go, Waver!” With that, Rider charged ahead, his Master in tow.

_Sayaka-chan, will you be all right?_

_I’ll be drawing on Symposium Margarum’s powers slightly, so I might become…a bit more unreasonable. But don’t worry._ She waved off her Master’s concern. _You made a promise, and I made an oath to help you fulfill that promise._

_I’ll trust in your words then, Berserker._

“Ready, Berserker?”

With a burst of magic Sayaka was wreathed in her Puella Magi regalia once more.

“By your lead, Saber.”

They charged.

~~[z]~~

“This is ridiculous!” The Magical Girl leapt from tentacle to tentacle, twin cutlasses swinging around like a dervish. Despite the perilous situation they were in, Sayaka still felt a faint line of joy in her heart.

She was fighting alongside legendary heroes. One of those legendary heroes was basically Magical Girl King Arthur.

Yeah, she was definitely happy.

“They keep regenerating. I don’t know how long more we can keep this up.” The King of Knights summed up the situation from beside her. _If my left hand was fine, Excalibur’s light would definitely have been able to cleanse this monstrosity by now._ Glancing to her right, she noticed a mass of shadows swirling below her fellow Servant. “Berserker! Beneath you!”

“Beneath me?” Sayaka instinctively leapt and slashed, before realizing what Saber was referring to. “Oh, this.”

Where Sayaka’s reflection was supposed to have been instead resided an image of a monstrous mermaid.

“My Noble Phantasm,” the Magical Girl casually explained as she cut down another few tentacles. “Not everything can be as beautiful as your Excalibur, Saber.”

 _I don’t really want to have to fight another monster,_ Saber thought. _But Berserker herself…seems like a normal knight. Just what is she?_

From on high, Rider’s voice sounded. “Saber, Berserker! Fall back for now! We need to regroup!”

~~[z]~~

With his hood up, Kariya silently watched the other Masters and Servants discussing the plan.

_So, Rider has a Reality Marble containing his entire army. Lancer’s spears lay a curse and dispels magic. But Lancer’s Master would never agree to an alliance, so it’s pointless._

Looking up into the sky, he noted a single golden speck. _And that’s where Archer is, and presumably Tohsaka as well. Just looking down on all of us._ Fighting down his first emotional reaction to simply order Berserker to kill the man, he forced himself to think further. _Think! What do I know? Archer isn’t participating in the fighting, although from what I remember, his Noble Phantasm should be quite powerful. Tohsaka would probably want that extra Command Seal, so why hasn’t he ordered Archer to fight?_

“Hey, Matou! Do you have any ideas?” The young-looking Master of Rider seemed to be speaking.

“No.” Kariya spoke simply, and resumed his line of thought.

(Besides him, Sayaka waved a hand apologetically. “Ah, sometimes he gets like this. Don’t mind him…”)

 _From the records of the previous Grail Wars, the Archer class possesses Independent Action. So Tohsaka must have difficulty ordering Archer around. But how can I make this work?_ He shook his head. _In any case, I’ll need to approach him right after this, before he returns to his home. It’s not the best, since Berserker is already tired, but I don’t see any other time to contact him._

He remained silent, even as Diarmuid O’Dyna broke one of his spears in half, even as Excalibur was unleashed and Caster destroyed.

 _Pity we couldn’t be the ones to get the extra Seal, but half the reason why we’re here was to show good faith to the more pleasant Masters._ He noted how his Servant was staring open-mouthed at Saber. _And also so Berserker could see King Arthur again, I guess. That girl… Well, in either case, now that Caster is gone, it’s time to go._

“Berserker. It’s time to go. We have a date to catch.”

“Understood, Master.” She nodded at the two other Masters, then grabbed her own and leapt off.

~~[z]~~

“Good evening, Tokiomi _-san_.” Kariya put as much irritation as he could muster into the honorific.

“Matou Kariya. You don’t look too good.” The Tohsaka family head controlled his surprise. “You abandoned the path of magic, but it seems that you were still drawn to the Grail.” Inwardly, he prepared to call Archer, but he doubted that the Matou Magus would prose much of a threat. “Your disgraceful behavior reflects poorly on the Ma–“

“I couldn’t give two flying _fucks_ about the Matou, Tohsaka.” He spat back the words. Really, he was already trying to be civil, but why did Tokiomi have to be such a pompous ass?

 _Careful, Master. I’m supposed to be the Berserker here._ _Remember what you came here to do._

_Yeah, yeah._

“Tonight, I’m here for two things: to ask you a question, and to give you some information.” Kariya spoke. “Grant me the _honour_ of these two things, and I won’t have Berserker cut you down on the spot.” On cue, Berserker walked out of the shadows, sword in hand and a grin on her face. “I don’t see Archer around here, and he doesn’t exactly seem like he’ll run to save you, so please, do consider my requests.”

Tohsaka gritted his teeth. _Berserker is here? What were the Assassins and Kirei doing? Certainly, that is true. Archer might arrive in time to save my life, but I’ll probably be injured. If I want to summon him here now, I’ll need to use another Command Seal, and I’ll still need one more to force him to kill himself. It’s a waste of time, but I guess I’ll have to listen to his requests._ “Fine, then. I’ll hear you out.”

“Good. First, the question. Why did you give Sakura to Zouken?”

“Is that really something you should be concerned with right now?”

“Are you really going to give that sort of answer while I have my Servant right here, Tokiomi?” Kariya shot back.

 _Fine, then._ “There is nothing to say. I simply wished a bright future for my daughter.” Tokiomi spoke tiredly. “Any Magus with more than one child faces a dilemma, since only one can inherit the family secrets. The other must fall to the rabble.”

 _The rabble, huh._ Kariya closed his eyes. _I really should cut you down right now, but that would make Aoi sad, so I won’t_.

“Both Rin and Sakura were born with a rare level of potential. To destroy the potential of one for the sake of the other…would be a tragedy. That is what the Matou family’s request was like a godsend. All Magi are born with power, and they have a responsibility for and to that power. That is what it means to be born a Magus’ child.”

“So, you would make the sisters fight each other?” Kariya already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from the man himself.

Tokiomi spread his hands and continued. “If I cannot reach the Root, Rin will. If she cannot, Sakura may. The glory goes to the winner, and the loser rests, knowing that the family’s honour was upheld. But I suppose to one blind to the nobility of magic such as yourselves, this explanation makes no sense.”

Kariya’s anger had long passed the threshold of that which burned. Now, instead of consuming him, it simply surged below the surface, like a current ready to swallow the unsuspecting swimmer.

“On the contrary, when it comes from you, I suppose it makes perfect sense.” Kariya’s voice was emotionless. “Thank you for answering. Now for my second request: come see the bright future that you hath wrought for your daughter.”

Withdrawing the photos of Sakura, he threw them across at the Magus.

“What…what is this, Matou Kariya? Explain!” Tokiomi’s hands were shaking, as he took in the image of his own daughter being violated by the worms.

“It is as you see, Magus. Zouken never intended to train her into a proper ‘heir’. She was simply to be a vessel. That is the perversity known as the Matou Magecraft.” Kariya had gathered enough information to say that much. “For all of the horrors of Magecraft, its greatest depravity is perhaps to simply treat people as nothing more than things.”

The one who had turned his back on Magecraft before now turned his back on the Magus.

“Goodbye, Tohsaka Tokiomi. Drown in your ideals as a Mage and despair.”

~~[z]~~

“I’m surprised he didn’t call Archer to cut us down there and then, Master.”

“Oh, on some level he knows it’s true. They may not consciously accept it, but all Magi know of the more unseemly sides of their craft. It’s one reason I left the family.” Kariya idly said. “Stand guard for me, would you?”

He stepped inside the phonebooth and began to dial Aoi’s number. “Hello? Yes, it me, Kariya. Is the room ready?...And you say that she’s still officially your daughter? It’s just the name that got changed? Right, so it won’t count as kidnapping, then. No, I’m busy now. I just needed to check. It’ll all be over in a few days, I think. Yes, thank you.”

“Everything okay, Master?”

“Just peachy, Berserker. Time for the final parts of the plan.”

~~[z]~~

**VIII.**

Eventually, the ripples become waves.

~~[z]~~

“Ehh? Berserker’s Master also wants to parley?” Irisviel exclaimed from where was lying down in the magic circle. She had just finished reading the other memo from Tohsaka.

“It seems to be so. A familiar dropped this letter off at our doorstep.” Maiya recalled the strange white puffball which seemed to have been waiting for _her_ , specifically.

“My, aren’t we popular today,” Irisviel remarked.

“Matou’s letter says that they don’t trust the Church as a neutral place, because they saw the Executor,” she read off from the letter. “They say that they’ll be happy to parley in our home turf. And that…they have no wish for the Grail?” She spoke in disbelief. “It’s signed both ‘Matou Kariya’ and ‘Miki Sayaka’.” She concluded.

“Miki Sayaka is Berserker’s true name.” Saber spoke. The number of questions in her head grew further.

“Saber, you fought alongside Berserker against Caster, right? How was she?”

“She reminds me of one of my knights,” Saber spoke. “I sense that she’s an honest soul. But she might have some unknown power up her sleeve.” She recalled the entity that she had observed swimming under the Servant, the twinge of madness she had sensed from it.

“Maiya, what are you impressions of the Matou?”

“He seems relatively inexperienced to me. His health isn’t in good condition either.” The assistant spoke.

“I thought so as well.” Irisviel nodded. “Do you think it would be wise to invite him here?”

“This house, Madam? We certainly would be the strongest here, and I can kill Matou if he makes any moves. The issue is with Berserker’s ‘unknown power’.”

“I trust her to abide by the rules of parley,” Saber nodded. “I also think I’m fast enough to stop her if she tries any tricks, or if Matou pulls a Command Seal,” she added more reluctantly.

“It seems to be settled, then. We’ll meet with Matou here, then go the Church to meet Tohsaka at night.”

The issue of Kotomine Kirei still had to be settled, after all.

~~[z]~~

It had to be the most peaceful, most normal-looking meeting in the entirety of the War.

On the wooden porch of the house that would become the Emiya residence in many timelines, Sayaka sat cross-legged, while Kariya stretched out his bad leg, overgrown grass at his feet.

Near him, Irisviel von Einzbern also sat, while the King of Knights and the assassin both stood at the ready.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet, Einzbern-san, Saber.” Kariya nodded. “I’ll get to it so I don’t waste your time, I think. You read my letter?”

Irisviel nodded.

“Well, I said that both me and Berserker–“

“It’s ‘Berserker and I’, Master.” Sayaka interrupted. Irisviel hid a small smile at the byplay.

Kariya gave a mock glare over at his Servant. “Right, both _Berserker and I_ ,” he emphasized, “have no wish for the Grail, but the truth is slightly more complex.”

Saber tensed. _Is he going to double-cross us, after all?_

“One of my family members is being held hostage, and I was forced to participate in the War. She’ll only be freed if I win.” After much discussion, this was the story that both Master and Servant had come up with.

“Can’t you free her yourself, though? Berserker should be strong enough, right?” Irisviel pointed out.

“It’s…not as easy as that. You see, the person holding her hostage is Matou Zouken.” _Sayaka-san, you blocked off the worms’ communication, right?_

_Don’t worry, I double-checked before we stepped foot in here._

Irisviel’s eyes flashed in recognition, even as the core within her that was the Winter Saint pulsed in response to the name.

“Zouken can kill me with a thought.” He explained about the concept of the Crest Worms and their tie to their progenitor. “And with every day that passes, my body, as well as my niece’s, is being eaten from the inside.” He reached inside his bag for The Photographs.

Kariya had debated with himself long and hard about whether to show them to outsiders or not. To weigh Sakura’s modesty against the few points of sympathy that it might score with the Einzbern…had been a painful decision to make. Eventually, he decided to commit the smaller sin to make attempt to prevent the bigger tragedy.

 _And may the gods damn me for this decision_ , he thought.

Saber gave a small cry of outrage, while there was an almost imperceptible tightening of Maiya’s brow. Irisviel had a hand to her mouth.

_But the Einzbern only did their craft on homunculi. They never went as far as to use real humans…did they?_

The traitor to Magecraft then continued by recounting the whole story about the Tohsaka sisters, including his conversation with Tokiomi, finally ending with the particulars of the Matou Magecraft.

The horrified silence was only broken by Saber. “You know, back in my day, Merlin did all sort of perverted things. Between Caster and this, I’m actually surprised he didn’t do more.”

“Even supposing we agreed to help, what do you think we can do, Matou-san?” Irisviel enquired. “If Zouken can stay alive even with a single worm, as you say, there’s not much we can do to stop him.” _And it might be a trap to lure us into their inner sanctum as well. Not to mention that things are complicated since the other two Founding Families are also involved…the elders never briefed me about the politics._

“Excalibur,” Sayaka spoke, staring into Saber’s eyes. “My Master has the list of all the safeguards. Avoid those, and you’ll be able to destroy the entire Matou Residence. Please, Saber.”

“Think of it as removing Berserker from the War with a single use of her Noble Phantasm. I’ll use the rest of my Command Seals for rescuing the girl and healing her. I’ll even sign a geass scroll, or whatever you call it.” Kariya added.

“It’s pronounced _geis_ ,” Maiya corrected. “Madam, we should take a few moments of recess.” The assassin could see that both Irisviel and Saber were…emotionally compromised, for lack of a gentler phrase. _We need to talk to Kiritsugu._

“Yes, I agree. Please wait here, Matou-san. Saber, if you don’t mind supervising them?”

Irisviel and Maiya headed into the shed, while the Servant remained behind.

“So, King Arthur? How have you been?” Sayaka chirped. She stood and stretched her legs.

“I’ve seen better days,” Saber spoke, the memory of Lancer’s death and Kiritsugu’s subsequent words still fresh in her mind. “To be frank, seeing an honest Heroic Spirit like you around affirms my faith in humanity.” _And I might have to kill you myself in the end, all for the sake of the Grail. Kiritsugu might be a bastard, but we both at least agree that the battlefield is hell._

“Did something happen, Saber?” Sayaka noted the negative tones in the knight’s voice. _Barring the fact that I am not strictly a Heroic Spirit_ , she thought wryly.

“It’s not my place to say, Berserker.” Saber shook her head. “Just know that this War is hell itself, and there are people who would resort to dastardly means to win it.”

 _Yeah, something definitely happened._ Sayaka filed it away. “At least your Master seems like the decent type. That’s why we came to you in the first place.”

Saber nearly shouted at the Servant before realizing that they both thought the Einzbern homunculus was the Master. “ _Irisviel_ is a good woman.” She spoke the statement in lieu of an outright lie, placing only the faintest possible stress on _Irisviel_. “You know,” she continued, “with your conduct thus far, excepting that first night, you would have been a good candidate for the Round Table.”

“T-that’s high praise coming from you itself, King Arthur.” Sayaka blushed. _Too bad you’re not a Magical Girl, or we would have had this conversation somewhere else._

“Or maybe I’m just jaded with the War,” Saber spoke. “There has been no shortage of aspersions on my ideals.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Sayaka said sincerely. “In any case, I guess it’s lucky that I won’t need to fight you.”

“You say that as if the agreement’s already been made.”

“You _could_ just sneak away in the middle of the night, you know. One swing of your sword, and the nightmare would be over for us and Sakura-chan.”

“Sakura, huh?” There was a strange feeling in the back of her mind, reminding her of a black jellyfish, and seeing herself in a mirror, but she shook off the thought. “I can’t disobey my Master that way, Berserker.” _Much as I would like to._ “I swore an oath, after all.”

“Too bad for us, then.” Sayaka sat back down.

At that point, the doors of the shed re-opened.

“We agree to the deal, Matou, Berserker.”

 _What?!_ Saber thought incredulously. _How is it possible that Kiritsugu agreed to this? Shouldn’t he have viewed this as nothing more than a distraction? I thought he would be more likely to shoot Berserker’s Master in the back as he was leaving the house!_

Kariya’s shoulders sagged in visible relief.

* * *

**IX.**

The end was simple and quick, and it was well that it was not longer.

~~[z]~~

Standing in the empty garage of the Zenjou household, Aoi watching from a distance away, Kariya prepared to speak.

 _Each Command Spell allows for effects beyond the limitations of Magecraft._ Kariya recalled the words. _If Master and Servant both agree, miracles beyond the normal capabilities of the Servant can happen._

He had taken a risk in coming here ahead of time, both outside of the boundaries of Fuyuki and far away from his Servant, who was by now waiting in the Matou basement.

But he had faith in his Servant, and the pact they had sworn.

A single promise, to save a single girl.

It was time.

“Berserker. On my First Command Seal, I order you thus: **bring Matou Sakura to me!** ”

For several tense seconds, nothing happened, and Kariya could only hear the pounding of his own heart and the writhing of the worms within him. Then–

–space distorted, bringing forth both Sayaka, looking bloody with several cuts and bruises, and the pale form of Sakura, complete with several wriggling forms.

Aoi gave a gasp.

In the next moment, pain beyond pain hit Kariya, as his Servant drew upon the every last bit of his mana to make the miracle possible.

The veil of magic blocking his worms’ telemetry back to Zouken was broken, as had the enchantment dampening Kariya’s sense of pain.

For a moment, Kariya whited out.

“Master! Remember the commands and the agreement! MASTER!” Sayaka screamed at him, beseeching him to come to his senses.

 _That’s right. I still have…_ Kariya fought through the haze of pain, which seemed to have engulfed his entire being. _I still need to…kill Zouken._

With a trembling hand, he brought the phone to his ear, and spoke the code words. “Coast is clear, Einzbern.”

“You think you can get away from me, my son?” Sakura’s mouth was moving, speaking with the voice of the old man. “You have the nerve to betray the family for the second time? To betray ME?” The voice also seemed to be coming from within him, now. “You dare steal my granddaughter as well?”

 _She’s…not your granddaughter._ Kariya thought.

_Granddaughter._

_Sakura._

_Two more commands._

“Berserker,” he managed to gasp out, “on my Second Command Seal…” he spat out a mass of blood and insects, “ **cleanse Sakura of all traces of Matou Zouken!** ”

Sayaka stabbed down unhesitatingly into Sakura, and Aoi screamed in fright.

There was no other way. Even after _only a single year_ , the worms had already made their way deep into the girl, which meant that only a correspondingly equally deep wound would be enough to extract the worms.

“More magic, Master! I need more! But you–“ Berserker anxiously shouted.

“Take it!” Kariya commanded his worms to work even harder, even as Zouken’ taunts and screams echoed in his ears.

_I offer my life, and my flesh to be consumed._

He didn’t think he’d see so much blood in his lifetime. And not all if it was his, too.

_One last command._

“Sayaka…” he coughed. The worms had nearly made their way up to his vocal cords, and he struggled, painfully forcing himself to form each and every single word. “ **Heal Sakura. Take my life and heal Sakura.** ”

Azure light filled the garage, burning itself into Kariya’s eyes. Elsewhere, he felt Zouken’s voice scream in anguish as Excalibur, _Sword of Promised Victory_ and the dream of all Heroes, burned away the Matou residence.

He savoured it.

Within him, the Crest Worms slowly died, one by one, from overload, as his Servant used it to heal a third party that was neither herself or her Master, and did it away from the leylines of Fuyuki, where the Grail provided mana for its Servants.

The exponential cost involved literally tore at his body from the inside out.

Then, the blue light faded, leaving behind a semi-conscious Sakura, a tired-looking Berserker, and a lot of dead worms.

“Berserker…Sayaka-chan…”

He felt the last of the worms die within him, and knew his time was about to come.

“I’m here, Master.”

“Is…is Sakura safe?”

“As safe as I could have made her, Master.” The Command Seal had had allowed her to reach beyond the depths of her normal magical perception and truly _purge_ Sakura’s body.

“Good…Is Aoi here, Sayaka?”

Sayaka quickly motioned to Aoi, who rushed over in a clear panic.

“Kariya-kun! How could you!” She knelt down beside him. “You didn’t say that…you never told me it would come to this!”

“Just promise me one thing, Aoi.” The Servant gently propped up her Master’s head, allowing him to speak. “Don’t let Sakura…return to the Matou. Do…do you promise?”

“I promise! Oh, Kariya…” The mother was crying by now.

“On your life, Aoi-san.”

“I promise, I promise! Just don’t die!”

“Good…” Kariya smirked. “I really was a fool. I should have told you this sooner…and fought a bit harder…but…Aoi. I love you.”

“I know you did, Kariya.” Aoi’s eyes were closed, now, turned downwards in pain.

“After I die, burn my body. It contains vile Magecraft…which should have never been created...and needs to be cleansed.” Looking upwards at Sayaka’s own body, which was seemingly growing fainter, Kariya gave his final request. “Berserker…Sayaka…you know what to do.”

His Servant nodded. Gently lowering Kariya to the ground, she stood and drew her sword. “Stand back, Tohsaka-san.”

“But, can’t you just heal him?”

“I’m out of magic, and so is Kariya. The things that powered me…powered us…there is always a cost. Trust me, it’s less painful for him this way.” Sayaka spoke, although her voice was becoming fainter.

“Farewell, Aoi-san. Take care of Sakura for me.”

Sayaka’s sword descended, and Matou Kariya died.

Now rapidly fading, Sayaka turned to the woman. “Well.” Taking off her stained glove, she walked over and stroked Sakura’s head, _whose purple hair seemed to be fading_ , one final time. “She’s a good girl. You’d better remember this sacrifice and keep my Master’s promise, Tohsaka Aoi, because if you don’t…”

The last wisps of the Servant vanished into the air.

“…Magical Girl Miki Sayaka will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

On the floor of the garage, Tohsaka Sakura began to stir.

* * *

_**Wise up!** _

Servant: Berserker

True Name: Miki Sayaka // Okt███ von ████ndorff

Alignment: Lawful Good // Lawful Insane

Strength: C+

Endurance: B+

Agility: C+

Mana: D

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: A

Class Skills:

Mad Enhancement: E-A

  * Varies based on usage of _Symposium Magarum_ and how much Sayaka boosts her physical parameters.

  * At the highest level, Sayaka will no longer be able to be reasoned with, and can only be brought back to sanity by use of a Command Seal.




Personal Skills:

Regenerative Healing: EX

  * The crystallization of Sayaka’s wish to heal another. The ability to heal from even the most grievous of wounds, such as the reattachment of missing limbs. Also grants her the some ability to heal and mitigate the pain of others.

  * At the rank of EX, effectively grants her Battle Continuation, Magic Resistance, and an improvement to Endurance.




Forgotten Sacrifice: A

  * The wishes of Magical Girls advance history, while they themselves remain hidden in the background. Allows Sayaka (or any other Magical Girl summoned as a Servant) to pass themselves off as a normal human being.

  * In addition, since Sayaka is acting as █████ for the ███ ██ ██████, her parameters are hidden from all others, including her own Master, and are only revealed should she disclose them voluntarily.




Noble Phantasm:

Symposium Margarum ~ Orchestra of the Mermaid Witch: A

  * The Magical Girl and the Witch are two sides of the same coin.

  * Allows Sayaka to use the powers of Oktavia von Seckendorff, which includes summoning the Witch’s minions, creation of a Witch’s Barrier, sending railway wheels at other people, and other miscellaneous things. More impressive feats require more magic, and a greater degree of tapping into the Witch’s side.

  * The more Sayaka taps into this power, the more she descends into madness. Overuse will lead to Sayaka transforming into Oktavia, where nothing short of a miracle will turn her back.

  * What’s a Doppel?




* * *

**Epilogue.**

“Did you enjoy your mission, Sayaka-chan?” The Goddess’ voice was light.

“Enjoy it? You’re kidding me! The people there went through a ridiculous amount of suffering! What kind of sicko enjoys that?” Sayaka grumbled. “Anyway, before I forget…”

She strode over to a nearby table, where a girl with _blondish-green hair and a light pink costume_ sat talking with her friends. “Twelve lollipops. Are you going to tell me how you knew?”

“Now, now, Mademoiselle Sayaka. Do not question one who has both ascended to the Throne of Heroes and arrived at _this place._ ”

“Urgh.” Sayaka threw up her hands and walked away. “Hey, Madoka. Can we talk for a bit?”

The Goddess and her friend stepped outside onto the balcony. Overhead, a gentle sun shone down on the realm that was the final resting place of every Magical Girl.

“What is it, Sayaka?”

“Why?” Sayaka shot out. “Why send me to fight there?”

“Well…” Madoka tapped her cheek for a bit. “You and that man…you’re both very similar, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, the resemblance was uncanny.” Sayaka snarked. “And I had to knock some sense into him. I can’t believe I used the Kyouko method.”

“Well, you’re learning to adapt. Sometimes we need to do sneaky things, which you also did.” Madoka teased.

“Well, it was because it was a life or death situation, and…wait a minute, you’re distracting me! Why’d you send me down there?”

“Maybe I just wanted a happy ending for some of those people for once,” Madoka shot back. _Even if I had to cheat a bit to do it._

Such as sending Kiritsugu Emiya images of a fully rampant Dark Sakura. _That_ was pushing the limits of divine intervention, but the Goddess of Hope thought it had been worth it. Sure, Matou Zouken probably wasn’t fully dead, but enough had been done to make sure that he could no longer hurt others.

“Hmm, fair enough.” Sayaka hummed. “But isn’t that whole thing, like, out of your, uh, jurisdiction? I mean, they aren’t Magical Girls, are they?”

“I wanted a happy ending,” Madoka pouted stubbornly, “and I found a loophole. When you think about it, Sakura-chan ‘has magic’, which makes her a ‘magical girl’.”

Sayaka looked at her friend-turned-concept-slash-goddess in dull shock. “You’re unbelievable, Madoka.” She stared at her friend’s expression a bit longer, as the full force of the realization hit her. “And you look so proud of it, too!”

“Hey, this is the first time I pulled a trick!” Madoka protested. “I have every right to be proud!” _Besides,_ she thought to herself, _Sayaka might be good, but she definitely needs to learn to do sneaky._

_Especially if we’re going to rescue Homura-chan._

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that was a ride. I hope you enjoyed my first ever completed story, even if it’s only a oneshot. Originally, it was going to be only 10k words, but it crept up slightly longer than that.  
> Fun fact: while doing research for this fic, I found out that Saber is actually shorter than Sayaka. Sayaka (age 14) is 160 cm, Saber (physical age 15) is 154 cm. Bloody hell, Saber is tiny.   
> There’s a fansub for Magia Record that localizes “Witch’s Barrier” to “Reality Marble”. I can see how they’re similar, but why? Why would you do such a thing?   
> Most dialogue was taken from their respective Fate/Zero episodes. I’m going to leave it open to interpretation how the War ended. I’m also aware that I may not really have portrayed the characters fully accurately, but please forgive me for that.   
> I also had to give Kariya an increase in his SAN stat in exchange for giving him a heavily nerfed Servant. Well, since he was under the effect of the worms the whole time in canon, we never see the upper limits of his intelligence. I think that this is what he could have been like, being charitable.   
> Thank you for reading my fic.   
> Review please!


End file.
